Name: Julie Gohring Age: 41 Location: Tamarindo, Costa Rica
What does being a Girl Gone Strong mean to you?
Being a Girl Gone Strong means bucking traditional and conventional stereotypes of what it means to be a woman. It means defining myself by my own standards and creating space for other woman to do the same. We are all individuals, by owning our uniqueness and joining forces together we can achieve so much more!
How long have you been strength training, and how did you get started? I dabbled on and off for years, but didn’t get serious until 2010 when I realized how getting stronger could help improve my surfing. I’m a surf fanatic, so anything that increases my joy when I’m out in the ocean makes me say, “I’m all in.” I also wanted to be able to pull myself up the side of a rickety panga boat that has no ladder, when I am out in the middle of the ocean, without the assistance of anyone. It’s basically like doing a muscle up. Ha!
Once I started lifting with heavier weight I was amazed at how the shape of my body changed. It created curves and definition like nothing I had ever seen before. I also noticed how the strength I gained in my body overflowed into other areas of my life.
I started showing up in my life more fully, more focused, and more alive than ever.
What does your typical workout look like?
Even though upper body strength is what solidified my strength training practice, I love to train my glutes. I can never find an excuses not to. When I train glutes, I always focus on heavy deadlifts, single-leg deadlifts, hip thrusts, kettlebell swings, and Bulgarian split squats.
Favorite Lift:
The Bulgarian Split Squat. Nothing gets the glutes to burn quite like this split squat.
Most memorable PR:
My most memorable PR was not with a bar, but rather from Mother Nature. I was on a surf trip in Indonesia three years ago, where I was faced with one of my biggest surf challenges to date. I had gotten up super early (dawn patrol!) to get out into the ocean before the line-up got crowded with other surfers.
The surf break was about one mile off the coast over a not-so-deep reef, so I had to be boated out to the line-up. I had looked at the surf report the night before and knew the waves were going to be big, but I would have never expected what I saw that morning.
When I arrived to the line-up, it was in between sets so it was hard to tell what the conditions were. I jumped out of the boat and started to paddle over to the line-up when I saw the biggest waves of my life. These massive walls of water were rolling in, some of the wave faces were up to 15 feet! Up until that point the biggest waves I had surfed were six feet.
Seeing waves that big, up close, with my very own eyes made me feel a wee bit scared, to say the least. Ha! It could have been very easy in that moment to panic, lose faith in my own ability, and turn right around and get back into the boat. But I didn’t. Somewhere inside me, I knew that I could catch one of those waves. (And this is one reason I believe the benefits of strength training overflow into other areas of our lives.) I not only had the physical strength but also the body confidence and internal belief to trust myself (and my mind and body), and say yes to pushing myself past my own limits. I truly believe my dedication to strength training gave me the physical and mental strength to stay in those conditions, when my gut reflex would have been to bolt.
On that day I caught one of the most memorable and biggest waves of my life at eight feet. I thank the iron for that!
Top 5 songs on your training playlist:
My House – FloRida
Treasure Chest – Bruno Mars
No Scrubs – TLC
Crash – Dave Mathews Band
Jane Says – Jane’s Addiction
Top 3 things you must have at the gym or in your gym bag:
Water bottle with BCAA’s, lifting gloves, and resistance bands (for those glutes).
Do you prefer to train alone or with others? Why? I love to train alone because it allows me to concentrate deeply on the inner experience of training my body, and it also forces me to push my mental limits. However, I usually train with my boyfriend, which is awesome as well. We push each other, and since he is a personal trainer too, it’s nice to have someone check my form and give me constructive feedback.
Most memorable compliment you’ve received lately: A client recently told me, “ I came to you desperate to lose weight, but I have gained so much more than I could have ever imagined. Because of you, for the first time in my life I feel at peace with my body and proud of the skin I am in. I am no longer worried about the number on the scale because now I know it doesn’t even matter. It’s all about how I feel in my body.”
Most recent compliment you gave someone else:
“Hey you, I dig your shirt!” (that’s Nick, my boyfriend.)
Favorite meal:
Do wine and cheese or tortilla chips and guac count as meals?
Favorite way to treat yourself:
Sunset walks. The vibe in the air the five minutes before the sun goes down is like the most peaceful, serene, and perfect five minutes of my existence every time.
Favorite quotes: I have two faves…
“Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a certain poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. Because it’s only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential.” —Barack Obama
“If you do follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. Follow your bliss and don’t be afraid, and doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be.” —Joseph Campbell
Favorite books: Sapiens: A Brief History Of Mankind — Yuval Harari The Power Of Myth — Joseph Campbell & Bill Moyers The Beauty Myth — Naomi Wolf East Of Eden — John Steinbeck
What inspires and motivates you? A courageous woman. A woman who takes care of herself first — even in a world where she is told to put herself last. She does what’s best for her, nevertheless. She stands tall, she takes up space, and she uses her voice. Every time I see a woman do, act, or behave in a way that is aligned with her, regardless of if it aligns with what society has told her, my heart smiles.
What do you do? For a decade I worked in pharmaceutical/bio-tech sales, but once I relocated to Costa Rica I turned my passion for fitness into my full-time work. Now, I’m a certified personal trainer and nutrition coach and work with clients here in Costa Rica on the beach and also all over the world through Saltwater Fit, our online fitness and nutrition coaching. Technology is amazing!
Although I love living in Costa Rica and working for myself, I am so grateful for my time spent working in corporate america and the healthcare industry at large. Working within the healthcare system equipped me with an invaluable perspective that I would never have gained without that experience. I find it extremely useful in my work today as I wade through the endless amounts of health and fitness information.
Transitioning from working for someone else to working for myself has been a transformative experience. It truly has pushed me waaayyy out of my comfort zone and made me commit more fully to who I want to become. I am also very fortunate to have a business partner, my boyfriend, who is also a trainer and nutrition coach, and makes the entrepreneur lifestyle much more bearable. Together, we run our fitness and lifestyle blog Saltwater Fit.
… And when you’re not working? I guess it is obvious by now, I love to surf and basically operate my life around it. Sounds funny I know, but to be a dedicated surfer it is a requirement. You have to schedule your work and daily commitments around the tides and the specific environmental conditions that are changing from day to day.
It’s different from other sports where the conditions are always the same. For instance, take basketball. There is always a basketball, court, and a hoop to shoot. Those are constants and usually readily available for practice when you have time.
In surfing, there are so many variables outside of your control that must come together to make a surfable wave. You need swell, the right wind direction, the right tide and time of day, etc. So you aren’t guaranteed surfable conditions whenever you feel so inclined to go surf. Therefore you have to be able to react in real time with some spontaneity to take advantage of the current ideal conditions when they appear.
My schedule reflects this priority and allows for flexibility. Having a more fluid schedule can make creating structure in your day more difficult and require more energy and focus to get things done. But it’s totally worth it for me. Surfing always bring my mind to the present moment. It forces me into the here and now, which I find is where my best life is lived.
I also love to travel. Especially to faraway places and distant lands. I find traveling (especially international) one of the most educational and expansive experiences you can give yourself. It forces you to see how people from other cultures and countries see and experience the world and reflect back on your own. It gives you perspective and an appreciation for all that is.
Describe a typical day in your life: Since living in Costa Rica, my life has become much simpler. This is by design. These are the elements of my day, not always in equal proportion or order. Ha!
Wake up: not a morning person. Drink Coffee: necessary for function.
Hit the Surf: pure joy. Work: train clients, write emails and blogs, read articles and books. Eat: lots of cauliflower rice. Train: lift weights or yoga — or both. Sunset walk: mandatory. Sleep: eight hours. Repeat: yes, please.
Your next training goal: Getting barreled. For those of you who don’t know the term, a barrel is when the wave creates a tube that you can ride in. You are essentially riding the inside curl of the wave. It’s pretty magical. When you’re in the barrel, you are completely covered up by the lip of the wave. The reason getting barreled is difficult is because you must take off or drop into the wave in a much more consequential section. Often times you put yourself at risk for falling or a violent wipeout because the lip of the wave can smack you down. This is where confidence, focus, and technical skill intersect.
For what are you most grateful? My parents. They always prioritized my brother and I, making sacrifices so that we could have more opportunity and experience in the world. My mother emphasized the importance of education and travel, and my father raised me to believe I could do or be anything. As an adult, I see how the solid foundation they laid is fundamental to all that I am today. Forever humbled and blessed.
Of what life accomplishment do you feel most proud? Working on the presidential campaign for Barack Obama. From 2007-2008, I worked as a volunteer community organizer for what is now known as Obama for America. I knocked on doors, made thousands of calls, raised money, and organized others to do the same. It was an extraordinary experience that taught me two important learnings:
When you become part of something that is bigger than yourself, you can accomplish so much more than you ever thought possible.
We are so much moresimilar than we are different — no matter our age, race, sex, education, political party, or socioeconomic status — we all essentially want the same things. When we put ourselves out there honestly, we can powerfully connect with others who seem different from us. This is how we come together, make change, and progress.
Which three words best describe you? Passionate, intuitive, and loyal.
What’s a risk you’ve taken recently, and how did it turn out? The biggest risk I took was when I decided to leave my corporate job and move to Costa Rica. This happened a little over six years ago. It was the biggest mental and emotional challenge I had ever put myself through because it brought into question my entire belief system. I had to reexamine everything I had been conditioned to believe about a “successful and happy life.”
Although this process wasn’t easy and was definitely uncomfortable, it forced me to align the way I was living with what I truly believed in my heart. I am forever grateful for this experience and that I trusted myself to make the leap.
Sometimes we know what is best for us in our hearts, but in our heads it just doesn’t make sense. Fear of the unknown and rational, pragmatic thought can get the best of us. When I moved to Costa Rica, I didn’t know how it was all going to turn out, there were plenty of unknowns. But I trusted a little voice that I had been trying to quiet for a long time, and I have been better off ever since. As Joseph Campbell says: “Follow your bliss (or little voice) and don’t be afraid, and doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be.”
What’s the coolest “side effect” you’ve experienced from strength training? I now have more autonomy and a deeper awareness of my own body. Knowing how to activate or turn on certain muscle groups so that I can improve my form in any activity that I do.
How has lifting weights changed your life? Lifting weights has grown my self confidence and ability to handle more challenging surfing situations. It has also reminded me what I can accomplish when I put my head down and put in the effort.
What do you want to say to other women who might be nervous or hesitant about strength training? Strength training will transform the way you look and feel in your body. You’ll be amazed! You’ll forge a new found sense of independence and respect for yourself that will resource you in every other area of your life. But don’t take my word for it, go try it for yourself.
Some may argue that iced coffee is such a perfect warm-weather drink, so why not just leave well and good alone? You see, I don’t agree because it’s a perfect template for experimentation. Coffee works well with so many other flavors that riffing on the beverage is not only fun, but it also turns out to be seriously successful. If you thought regular iced coffee was great, just wait until you give one (or all) of these twists a try.
I’m a proud feminist, and I also love to cook. Even more, I love to grocery shop. Picking out a recipe and then hitting the supermarket to put the necessary ingredients into my basket is a small thrill for me during what I’d describe as a bleak time, politically. Of course, just walking into a grocery store to go shopping or stepping into the kitchen to cook can feel like trading in your values and beliefs for age-old gender norms.
Sometimes, I get so giddy in the grocery store that I feel like a feminist failure. Am I doing this wrong? Is it possible to smash the patriarchy with one hand and pick out a package of chicken breasts with the other?
I like to think that the answer is yes.
In a world where women are regularly and systematically stripped of our right to make choices and control our own lives, grocery shopping can be an act of feminism. At least it is for me.
Preformed vitamin D, the kind found in eggs, fish, and meat, is about 5 times as bioactive as vitamin D3. This makes animal foods a rich source of vitamin D and may explain why human skin lightened after the adoption of agriculture—so they could replace the vitamin D they no longer got from hunted meat.
Episode 177: Dr. Loretta Breuning: Host Elle Russ chats with Dr. Breuning about her research into the best way to manage these crazy neurochemicals we’ve inherited from our ancestors.
Each week, select Mark’s Daily Apple blog posts are prepared as Primal Blueprint Podcasts. Need to catch up on reading, but don’t have the time? Prefer to listen to articles while on the go? Check out the new blog post podcasts below, and subscribe to the Primal Blueprint Podcast here so you never miss an episode.
This past winter, California storms destroyed the only road leading into and out of a small community in Big Sur, forcing residents to hike everywhere. You’ll never guess what happened to their health.
Facebook live event I’ll be doing: Hang out with celebrity nutritionist, Primal Kitchen Cookbook contributor, and Body Love author, Kelly LeVeque, as she takes a deep dive into her health and wellness journey with me and Primal Kitchen COO, Morgan Buehler, on July 21 at 11 AM Pacific.
Contest I’m excited about that ends tomorrow at midnight—so hurry: This one. Win a Primal birthday cake kit.
Big announcement I’m excited about: The South Bend, Indiana, Primal Kitchen restaurant is officially opening on July 21! Go give ’em (and your micronutrient profile) some love.
Success story I’m digging: Andrea Boyer took her health on a 180º with Primal principles after being diagnosed as pre-diabetic and with Celiac. Today she’s loving life and coaching others to take back their vitality.
“Mice eating their bones – that’s self-sufficiency!”
– You reminded me of something, Catherine. The day I turned 18, my parents kicked me out of the house. One of the most important first steps I took on the road to self-sufficiency was to start consuming my own hair and fingernails for extra protein.
Want to make fat loss easier?
Try the Definitive Guide for Troubleshooting Weight Loss for free here.
In case you were wondering, it’s always a great time for bacon. Morning, noon, and night; birthdays and Valentine’s Day; when you’re alone and when you’re with friends. Let’s face it — when you’re happy it makes you happier, and when you’re sad it cheers you up. And even though it’s especially hearty and delicious in cold weather, there’s no reason you can’t still enjoy it now that it’s warm outside.
Looking for a new way to use this kitchen staple? We’ve found the most popular bacon recipe on Pinterest, and it’s not what you might think.
Just in time for National Ice Cream Day (yes, it’s today!), Talenti let us in on a little secret regarding the best-selling gelato flavors from their utterly delicious brand. You would think that flavors like Tahitian Vanilla Bean or even Double Dark Chocolate would be up at the very top because those are classics, right? But it turns out that they didn’t even make the top five.
Here are the most popular Talenti flavors right now — have you tried any of them?
After months of deliberation, my father and I finally settled on the Florida Keys for our long-overdue father-daughter trip. The decision was primarily made due to its neutral proximity for us flying in from opposite coasts. Plus, it was just a place both of us had always wanted to go.
Our route would take us roughly 100 miles from Key Largo to Kew West via US 1, aka the Overseas Highway. This iconic two-lane road with 42 (!!!) bridges is one of the most scenic: Imagine limestone islets, working docks and marinas, and the most beautiful shades of aqua marine water you’ve ever seen.
It is also one of the most delicious — so long as you love key lime pie. It is almost impossible to drive this route and not notice the plethora of signs and stores selling key lime products, every single one of which touts their pie as either “The Best Key Lime Pie,” or “The Original Key Lime Pie.”
For now classes are 6pm and 640pm at 2840 Wildwood st in the Boise Cloggers studio.
Book your class NOW!
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Warrior Fit Testimonials
First, I want to say thank you for convincing me to do Tabata! I was struggling to lose weight and Finally I found something that helped! I really appreciate your coaching! - Craig T.
Ever since I was convinced to do Tabata I have seen huge results, I lost 6 pounds and gained energy in the first 3 weeks. I have been working out for 3 months before I decided to do Tabata and I struggled to lose weight.
At first I thought "How am I losing weight by bringing my heart rate up then cooling down then bringing it up again?" I don’t know how it works but it does!
Thank you!! - Theresa F.
The first day of Tabata, I wondered WHAT AM I DOING - I AM 56 !! Five weeks later I knew that it was what I needed. I learned that I could push myself well beyond my comfort zone and feel good later. I have a marked improvement in physical as well as emotional endurance. - Lyn C.
When I was first told about Tabata I was very excited from the word go, however that excitement stemmed from the fact that I had no clue what it meant. I missed the first week of class b/c I was traveling for work so when I came in during the 2nd week I had some making it up to do.
It was hard at first b/c my body wasn't used to working out at such a fast pace, but once I got into a rhythm I started to feel very good. These classes are no joke. If you stick with it you will leave there feeling stronger, healthier and overall better about yourself and what you've accomplished.
I would recommend these classes to anyone. Darrin is a great trainer and he'll keep you going with his energy.
- Jami L.
Warriors Fit Audio
Warrior Fit uses High Intensity Music to get ya Moooovin' So we can all "Get Our Sweat On"
The link below will give ya a freeee shot at Audible plus a couple audio books just to try it out and if you haven't used audio books on your commutes you are missing out. Get pumped up before you get to where you are going and exercise your mind. I use it Everyday. Go get yours now!
Name: Julie Gohring
What does your typical workout look like?
Seeing waves that big, up close, with my very own eyes made me feel a wee bit scared, to say the least. Ha! It could have been very easy in that moment to panic, lose faith in my own ability, and turn right around and get back into the boat. But I didn’t. Somewhere inside me, I knew that I could catch one of those waves. (And this is one reason I believe the benefits of strength training overflow into other areas of our lives.) I not only had the physical strength but also the body confidence and internal belief to trust myself (and my mind and body), and say yes to pushing myself past my own limits. I truly believe my dedication to strength training gave me the physical and mental strength to stay in those conditions, when my gut reflex would have been to bolt.
Do you prefer to train alone or with others? Why? 
What inspires and motivates you? 
Wake up: not a morning person.
How has lifting weights changed your life?
RESEARCH OF THE WEEK
For now classes are 6pm and 640pm at 2840 Wildwood st in the Boise Cloggers studio.
Book your class NOW!
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Val's Steppin it Up
